context: The State Council released new opinions to bolster services trade in early September 2024, outlining missions in green, smart and digital services, as well as priorities for some key areas of services. PRC services trade now stands at some C¥3.6 tn, rising by 14 percent y-o-y and recording growths in both exports and imports of services. Seeing the sector as an economic driver and an important source of know-how in advanced sectors, more efforts to bolster services trade can be expected.
Jin Guanping 金观平 economics and trade commentator (believed to be a homonym of the editorial department of Economic Daily) shares his insights on boosting PRC services trade, including
- conditions conducive to developing services trade
- institutional opening of the services trade regime
- progresses made in digital, intelligent and green development of service trade
- potnential benefits of further opening up in this area
- help firms uprade technology, management, marketing, industrial structure to be more innovative and competitive
- promote talent mobility, expand domestic demand and improve the global allocation of resources in the industrial and value chains
- challenges
- insufficient openness in the PRC service industry
- institutional barriers
- e.g. cumbersome administrative approvals and market access restrictions
- inadequate reserve of professional talents
- policy recommendations
- further open up the service industry
- simplify administrative approval procedures
- lower market access thresholds and enhance trade facilitation
- strengthening institutional building and rule alignment
- establish a sound negative list management system for cross-border service trade
- enhancw alignment and coordination with international high-standard economic and trade rules
- cultivate and attract professional talents in services
- improve the quality and competence levels of practitioners
- establish an efficient and convenient mechanism for cross-border data flow that supports the expansion of open service trade (especially digital services) while ensuring data security and privacy
- deepen international cooperation in service trade
- strategically plan the PRC's presence in global service markets
- actively participate in global economic governance and rule-making
- project the PRC's voice and influence in global service trade